Door



59 w55 R. F. LOETSCHER 2,725,694

DOOR

Filed NOV. 50, 1953 j?? vez? for Ylllnitedv v States vlratent DGOR Robert2 FL l'oetscher, Dubuque, Iowa; assigner to Farley & Loetscher Mfg. Co., Dubuque, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application November so, rosavsernmnsssnw 1 claim. (er zo-s'st comparative easeand without. materially. weakening. ther construction while at. the same time providing adequatemeans for mountingthe, window light; or trim` therefor. in the door.

Other objects.: will` appear-*i fronti-tune. toy time in the course of the specicationand claim.. I

My invention s'ill'ustrated more or less diagrammatically` imma-accompanyingdrawings, wli'erein V Figure 1i is a frontelevation with parts broken away of the door construction;Y

Figure 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of.Figu1.e 1;

Figure 3' is'a detailed'viewof'one'ofthe elements. use inthe constructionshowntinFigures '1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a section similar to Figure 2 showing a moditication of the present invention.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

1 designates a door casing and jamb of the conventional type. Shown generally at 2 is the improved door con struction of this invention, being hingedly mounted by means of hinges 3 and 4.

The improved construction is formed by making an outer boundary or framework which, in the present nstance, is made up by employing generally spaced, parallel and relatively heavy vertical frame members 5 and 6 and realtively heavy horizontal frame members 7 and 8 extending between and joining the vertical frame members 5 and 6 at the upper and lower ends thereof. These frame members may be from one to two or more or less inches in thickness, in the order of one to iive inches in width, and of any desired length. I wish it to be understood that these dimensions are in no way critica] and are given merely by way of example. The frame members may be made up of any suitable wood construction, preferably being one that has a minimum tendency to warp or sag. As will be seen in Figure l, one of the vertical frame members 5 may receive the hinges 3 and 4 for hingedly attaching the door to the door jamb 1.

A continuous sheet of face material of a size corresponding to the area defined by the frame members 5, 6, 7 and 8 is secured to each of the opposed sides of the frame members. Referring to Figure 2, for example, the face members 9 and 10 are adhesively secured or cemented to the opposed faces of the frame members by means of any suitable wood cement 11. These face members may be formed of any suitable wood veneer or other material.

Ice

Disposedv between thef tace'I members, 9-i and" 10v arcl a plurality of rein-.forcing .elements 12; Each'y of these clef'- mentsf 12. Eachy of thesey elements. 12v is evolved byv taking relatively inexpensiveA pieces of wood, whiclrl may bea; cheap' grade.. of wastev wood: and cutting; recessesv the lwood so as todene. I-beam sections.

Figure 3 illustrates. a typical elementi Each ot'l these elements-includes a: center.l section 13'a`nd opposedttlange portions 14V and 15; Astemployed in thedoor construction, the elements 12=rrtay-y be of. randomflengthaztliar isi-+- nofparticular length.: offtl'iese` elements. is:- criticalz- It prefer to employ elements which are iinl the order off sire to eighteen inches in lengtha .Thefwitlthr of the Ir-rbeam: may vary depending, upon the particular thickness off door? desired; The elements 121 may' be= disposed. in ther door ina moreor less randomlfashion'. That is,.some:aregen; erally paralleli toY the vertical' frames 5v andf 6;. somefare' generally' Parallel tol the horizontal frames 7l andi S',.a`n'd" others are inclinedfto each of these' members. N'orpar' ticular disposition of? the;Y elements with relation't'o` onef another is critical. They all may', if. desired,`extend`ihori zontally' or vertically: When making upf the construel` tion, eachA of thje elements 1=2 have'tthe'edge. portions? 16T otthein llanges adhesivelyf securedl to; the face'V menibei's"l 9- and 10, as=wi1l'be seen;` best' in Figure-'2; Itvstimporta'n't that the elements; do not abut'. against onev another a'l thoughf they' are spacedf closely.v adjacent to' one another. Whenv formedA in.4 this mannen. each of". the elmentsi per; mits expansion and contraction ofi-the face!rne'mbersfand frame members which may be' duef'to temperaturefand moisture chia-rugtas.A The elements; 12h`oldl the: facek inembers9'a-nd: 10 in accurate7 paralleli relationship while? at thesame time the' elements 1`2 permi't diterentzportionsf on the faceveneerlor frame-members to'expandorcontiaot without setting; up dangerous`A stresses" tliroughoutfthe' entire door.

An advantageous feature of the present invention'lrei sides in the fact that if a window light or similar opening, such as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, is desired to be cut in the door construction, portions of the elements 12 within the door are always in sucient proximity to the window light to enable a panel of glass or the like, or the tm, to be secured to the elements 12. For example, if the cut is made through the intermediate portion 13 of the I-beam, the trim may be secured to this intermediate portion. If the cut proceeds along a line between adjacent I-beams 12, the trim may be conveniently secured to the flange of the I-beam. If a cut is made along a diagonal through one of the I-beams, the trim may still be secured to the llange or intermediate portion of the I-beam, as the case may be.

In Figure 4 a different embodiment is illustrated. The door is made up of vertical frame members 20 and 21, similar to the vertical frame members 5 and 6 of Figure l. Continuous sheets of face veneer 22 and 23, similar to the sheets 9 and 10 of Figures 1 and 2 are employed on opposed faces of the door and are adhesively secured to the vertical frame members 20 and 21. In this form of the invention, however, core members or reinforcing members of dilcrent construction are employed. As will be seen in Figure 4, 24 illustrates a irst reinforcing beam or member and 25 a second reinforcing beam or member. These members have a length such as to extend throughout the length of the door. Each of the members 24 and 2S has an intermediate relatively thin section 24a and 25a respectively, and projecting rib or ange portions 24h and 25b, respectively, that are in abutting contact with the veneer faces 22 and 23 throughout their length and are adhesively secured thereto. A portion of the member' 24 extends to a point adjacent the vertical frame member 20 and a portion of the member 25 extends to a point adjacent the vertical frame member 21. Portions of 24 and 25 preferably extend to a point closelytadjacent one another but out of contact with one another.

The members 24 and 25 may be formed by cutting recesses in generally elongated blocks of waste wood to form the configuration indicated in Figure 4. With a door construction formed in this manner, the door is extremely lightweight while possessing adequate strength. The projecting portions 24b and 25b serve as adequate reinforcement for the face veneers 22 and 23. If a window light or similar opening is to be cut in the door, portions of 24 and 25 will always be at lthe edge of the opening so as to enable the fastening of trim or like material utilized Vin fabricating the window light thereto.

Assuming for eXample that the face material of the door has its grain running vertically, under many circumstances it is better to have the filler pieces 12 or 25 eX- tend horizontally as that tends to give a stronger door, smoother with less wavy surface. If the face material had its grain running horizontally, then it might well be desirable to place the filler blocks vertically. In many instances, however, the location of the blocks may be at random depending largely on the size and shape of the scrap material which is used as the filler.

For convenience, I have illustrated this invention as applied to a hollow door. It will be obvious, of course, that the same face material frame with ller blocks might be used for panels or partitions, table tops or for any other purpose where it is desirable to provide a generally at, hollow, wood member with plane surfaces.

Where I have referred to the grain, of the facing member, it will be understood that I refer to the grain of the outside ply of the facing member in the event that the facing member is of plywood.

I have referred both to I-beam sections and beam sections. In a very real sense the sections of Figure 2 show I-beams and the sections of Figure 4 also show I-beams with projecting webs. The particular arrangement of the webs on the beam sections can depend very well on the particular size and shape of the scrap lumber used for fillers.

The important thing in every case is that the door is lighter than it would be if the filler blocks extend throughout their entire area from one facing to the other.

Whereas I have shown and described an operative dcvice, I wish it to be understood that this showing is to be taken in an illustrative or diagrammatic sense only. There are many modifications of the invention falling within the scope of the invention which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The scope of the invention should be limited only by the scope of the hereinafter appended claim. Y

I claim:

A constructionfor hollow doors and the like comprising two opposed parallel facing members, frame members defining with the facing members a hollow chamber whose thickness is substantially less than its other dimensions, a plurality of ller members contained within the chamber generally out of contact with the frame members, each spacing member being in contact with both facing members, each spacing member comprising an I-beam cross section of greater length than thickness or width, the opposed flanges of the I-beam cross section being permanently secured to the opposed inner faces of the facing members, each I-beam reinforcing member being out of contact with adjacent members, the I-beam reinforcing members being disposed some of them parallel with and some of them inclined to the inner faces of the frame members, the spacing between the reinforcing members being irregular whereby each reinforcing memf ber denes between the inner faces of the opposed facing,y members positive parallel spaced lines of supporting contact between the opposed frame members.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,105,187 Gilkey Ian. 11, '1938 2,668,788 Waldherr Feb. 91954 FOREIGN PATENTS 876,313 France Nov. 3, 1942 1,013,087 France July 22, 1952 

